EPA Wrongly Nixed Emissions Permit Program: Texas

Law360, New York (December 8, 2010, 4:18 PM EST) -- Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has told a federal appeals court that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority when it shot down the Lone Star State's flexible permits program, which let participants tally emissions on a facilitywide basis as opposed to setting limits for individual pollution sources.

Abbott filed a brief on behalf of the state in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Monday, arguing that the EPA's disapproval of the flexible permits program was "arbitrary, capricious, in excess of...